Warren Washington’s goal with 14:53 left in the first half put the Cardinals ahead for good, and Jacksonville went on to defeat soccer rival Swansboro 3-1 on Tuesday night to move into sole possession of first place in the Coastal 3-A Conference.

Washington, a senior, scored to give the Cardinals a 2-1 lead after Jacksonville faced a 1-0 deficit just 3:49 into the match on a goal by Edward Radley. It was the second time this season the Cardinals fell behind against Swansboro, trailing 2-0 early Sept. 26 before tying the game. The Pirates eventually won 3-2.

As a result of the win, defending state 3-A champion Jacksonville (14-4-1, 10-1) put itself in prime position to capture the conference title for the fifth consecutive season. The Cardinals just need a tie Thursday when they play host to West Craven, which is 2-11 overall and lost 10-1 to Jacksonville earlier this season.

Swansboro (16-3-2, 10-2) is in second place, a half of a game behind Jacksonville. The Pirates are ranked third in the N.C. Soccer Coaches Association 3-A poll while the Cardinals are No. 10.

“Losing to Jacksonville, there’s no shame in that. They are the defending state champs,” Swansboro coach Doug Kidd said. “Jacksonville is just an incredible team. They are so talented. They played a fantastic game. They are well-coached and they play with a lot of class on top of it. The best team won tonight, no doubt about it.”

Still, Kidd was pleased with the effort by the Pirates, who were coming off a 3-1 loss at Havelock on Monday.

“I am really proud of their effort,” he said. “And we still have a lot to play for.”

But the night belonged to the Cardinals, and Washington’s goal was a big reason why.

The scoring play came after Zach Hall played the ball near the right corner and crossed it into the middle. Washington then headed the ball into the back of the net.

“Somebody played a great ball to Zach, he took it down the line, beat a defender and I was like, ‘All right, I’m going to make a near-post run because we work at this in practice,’” Washington said. “Once he served it in, I was like, ‘This is mine.’ The next thing I know I put it on frame.”

Washington’s goal was one of seven first-half shots on goal for Jacksonville. The Cardinals then outshot the Pirates 5-0 in the second half with that edge resulting in a goal with 20:34 left by junior CJay Sparks after he scored following a rebound off a shot by Hall.

“We were just trying to keep the ball and keep composure,” Washington said of JHS’ second-half plan. “We just wanted to play our game.”

And what is the Cardinals’ game?

“We wanted to possess the ball and change the point of attack,” Miller said. “Swansboro was doing a good job of getting numbers back so I told the guys to be patient.”

The Cardinals had to be when they trailed 1-0. Jacksonville eventually tied the game with 22:16 left in the first half when senior Ryan Johnson scored on a free kick from about 25 yards out.

“They did a great job of answering,” Kidd said. “It was a great goal.”

And it was a goal that rejuvenated the Cardinals.

“It got us back into it,” Miller said. “We started pressuring again.”

Jacksonville opened the match on the attack and threatened in the first minute to score from inside the 18-yard line.

However, the Pirates struck first as Radley, a sophomore, gave Swansboro a 1-0 lead within the first four minutes. Radley scored after he beat a defender to the ball inside the 18 following a deflection and found the net.

It was an early goal the Pirates wanted.

“We executed very well and found the net early,” Kidd said. “We are pretty lethal when you give us a look at the goal.”

But Swansboro was unable to score again. The Pirates managed just one more shot following their goal, which was saved by Jacksonville goalkeeper Joe Davis.

Swansboro goalie Nick Kohlmann made nine saves, including a pair of stops on point-blank shots late in the opening half.

“I think we did pretty well on defense this time because we knew what we were going up against,” Washington said. “This time we were able to play out from the back to the outside where we could move the ball and switch it.”

The Cardinals, however, played down a player in the final 9:02 when Chris Tziatzos received his second yellow card.

“Instead of playing two up top, we left one up and put an extra one in the midfield,” Miller said.

And in the end, the Cardinals were able to fight off the Pirates in what was an emotional game played in a light rain that saw JHS receive five yellow cards and one player leave the game momentarily with a bloody nose. Swansboro was given one yellow card.

“This puts us in a good position,” Washington said. “It was tough, but I knew we could pull it out.”